Five years ago this week, I wrote a post called Oklahoma – Second Worst in which I noted the now-defunct website iVillage.com ranking Oklahoma as the “second worst” state for women. The reason? A lack of abortion providers in our state.
“Choice is extremely limited in Oklahoma, where 96 percent of counties have no abortion provider and there are only six such doctors in the entire state. Health insurance companies are banned from covering the procedures (except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the mother’s life.) Women seeking an abortion have to wait 24 hours after undergoing a sonogram where they will be offered a chance to view the fetus and are required to listen to a description of the image on the screen. The state legislature is working to limit choice even further. The state Senate recently passed a personhood bill that gives legal personhood rights to embryos from the moment of fertilization. The bill is awaiting action in the House. A “Heartbeat” bill requiring doctors to tell women they have the right to hear the fetal heartbeat before ending a pregnancy passed the state Senate in early March and is awaiting action by the House. If passed, both bills will likely be signed by antichoice Gov. Mary Fallin.”
I’d post the link, but iVillage.com apparently could not generate enough traffic to stay around. iVillage, Inc was a media company owned by NBC Universal and the domain now redirects to the Today Show website.
In my post, I said, “If this is the criteria, then Oklahoma can do better. We can strive for that number one slot. Be ‘worst’ for women and best for babies.”
According to MoveHub, a site you’ve probably never heard of,, Oklahoma has now achieved that number one ranking as worst for women. The reason? You guessed it. Abortion.
MoveHub – The southern state of Oklahoma turned out to be the worst state for women in 2017. Following recent laws to strengthen the state’s hand in preventing women from accessing public abortion funds, Oklahoma ranked particularly poorly on women’s reproductive rights. The state has a particularly conservative approach to female abortion rights. For instance, recent legislation introduced in Oklahoma requires women seeking abortions to get the written permission of the foetus’ father.
Congratulations, Oklahoma! I knew we could do it. I sincerely hope Oklahoma holds on to this number one ranking for a long, long time. When liberals decry your state as being ‘worst for women’ and what they really mean is ‘most restrictive on abortion’ then clearly, we are doing something right in our state.
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